A heart as pure as crystal

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov considered purity the foundation of spirituality. As disciples, we strive towards a high spiritual ideal of self-transformation and transcendence. The first step is ‘To have a heart as pure as crystal’. Why is a crystal suspended in the sunshine beautiful?  Its purity allows the light to pass through it without hindrance or obstruction. We see a play of pure vibrant colours as the light is free to express itself in the fullness of the prism.

The crystal is symbolic of  why we need to free our physical body and our subtle bodies of  toxins and impurities. Otherwise, these impurities will prevent light from entering and passing through us.  They also block the free-flow of subtle energies through the different planes of our being. One way of working to purify ourselves is to imagine the transparency of crystals-

‘It’s wonderful – from out of the crude, dark material of her entrails, the earth is able to form a matter as pure and limpid as crystal. But it’s not enough for us to marvel at nature’s work; we need to do the same work of transmutation ourselves, by transforming the selfish feelings and desires of our heart. How?  First of all, through imagination. Imagination possesses real power, so why not use it to obtain the purity of a crystal? You will say that is just fantasy. But no, everything we imagine eventually becomes reality.

Once you have experienced this crystalline purity in the depths of your being, you will no longer allow murky desires and feelings to take hold of you. You will sense danger whenever such feelings visit you, and will respond immediately by replacing them with more generous and disinterested feelings. Concentrate on a crystal and allow yourself to be impregnated by its transparency: little by little, your etheric, astral and mental bodies will become pure and, like crystal, they will allow the light to pass through them.’

Spiritual insight depends on purity

Our intuition and spiritual insight depend on a pure life too. This is important because, as the master explains, our whole destiny depends on the clarity of our ‘inner eye’.

 ‘The emphasis in our teaching is therefore on living a pure life, on the physical plane as well as on the psychic plane. A human being’s entire destiny depends on an ‘inner eye’ that sees clearly, and this clarity depends on their way of living. As soon as they act wrongly, as soon as they transgress divine laws, their spiritual insight diminishes, they are no longer receive warnings or guidance and they get lost down blind alleys.

So it is up to each person to become aware of the relationship between their day-to-day behaviour and the clarity of their insight. Those who decide to live an upright, honest, noble life purify themselves and their subtle senses begin to function. Now, with the proper light and guidance they can return to the springs, prairies, lakes, pastures and mountains of their true homeland.’

Gushing water

Purity is the crystal- clear water of divine love

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov‘s understanding of  ‘purity’ is much broader than how it has sometimes been understood by religion in the past. For the master, true purity is an expression of divine life, of the divine, universal love for all beings:

 ‘Purity does not consist in guarding against all contact, as if shut up in a jar. No, the kind of purity which thinks only in terms of self-protection is useless and even harmful. True purity is divine love, because divine love is life, is the water that gushes from a spring, and this gushing removes anything dirty, dull or dark.

Purity without love is not true purity. How many religious people have believed, and still do, that purity consists in holding back from love. They may be as white as snow, but they are as cold, too, and their purity is sterile. It isn’t love, or the contact with others, that is to be avoided, but selfishness and possessiveness; as soon as such feelings enter the soul, love is no longer pure. True purity is that of crystal-clear gushing water, flowing on its way to water the fields and gardens in the hearts and souls of all beings.’

This pure, gushing water, such as that of a mountain spring, was a constant source of inspiration and wonder for the young Mikhael Aivanhov and he offered the image to his disciples as a stimulus for their inner work of purification. Just like the rising sun, a mountain spring is Nature’s example to us of perfect love and purity. It never ceases to pour out its pure energies for the benefit of all creatures and is continuously renewed and cleansed in the process.

Meditation on a pure mountain spring

Here is the master speaking in his own words about why we should become like springs. The full text is below the video.

‘A mountain spring bubbles up from the ground and begins to flow. I love to sit and listen to its murmur. I watch it flow, I even talk to it. And then I think of God, who is the true source of all life.

A spring remains pure-it remains alive because it never ceases to flow, not for a second. Even if someone wants to dirty it by throwing in their rubbish, it continues to flow and in very little time all that rubbish is washed away.

Take this spring as your model, try to become like a spring, in other words, love- love everything and in spite of everything. If you allow love to flow freely from you it will protect you from all impurity and suffering. You will not even notice that people have tried to dirty and harm you. Your inner spring will reject every negative thing and it will heal and restore you. You will be resuscitated.

Around a flowing spring there are plants, trees, birds and human beings. And what happens when the spring dries up? They all disappear. So never allow your spring to dry up. Keep this image of a flowing spring within you, night and day, a spring that rejects all impurity- never stop loving and you will be freed from all suffering. That’s all. Become a spring- and you will find beauty, purity, intelligence and protection.’

For more on the subject of purity the book ‘The Mysteries of Yesod – Foundations of Spiritual Life’ is recommended.

Methods of purification- the four elementsMethods of purification-the four elements